NHL Russia mic’d up Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov during the Russia/North America World Cup of Hockey game and the video is a must watch.

Kuzy is revealed to be a chatty player during games, frequently talking strategy and instructing players where to go on the ice – even veteran Pavel Datsyuk.

Then there are Kuzy’s priceless interactions with on-ice officials and players. After scoring a beautiful, coast-to-coast goal, Kuzy did a flapping bird celebration and high-fived his teammates at the Team Russia bench. Kuznetsov then began yelling at an unknown North America player (possibly Mark Scheifele) skating off the ice. “HEY? SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” Kuznetsov screams. “Something like that? Something like that?”

Kuznetsov was also asked by an official about how he likes his steak. “I like medium rare,” a smiling Kuznetsov said in English. “They don’t have baked potato in Russia.”

Caps forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has had a slow start to the World Cup of Hockey and in the process gotten demoted from Russia’s first line pivot to the team’s fourth line wing. Sunday against Team Sweden, Kuzy started showing signs of what made him the Caps leading scorer last year.

Late in the second period with both teams playing down a man, Kuznetsov busted down the right wing and sent a pass behind his body to Nikolay Kulemin. The Twister Pass is back, people.

There was once a time Evgeny Kuznetsov and Filip Forsberg fought neck-and-neck to be the top-rated prospect in the Caps organization.

Fast forward a few years later, Kuznetsov is one of the best players on the Washington Capitals and Forsberg is one of the best players on the Nashville Predators. Sunday, the two played against each other during Russia/Sweden game at the World Cup of Hockey.

Evgeny Kuznetsov was demoted from first-line center to a fourth-line winger ahead of Russia’s final World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game against Canada, Wednesday.

“That’s because he went to Oleg Valerievich [Znarok] and said he doesn’t want to play on the line with Ovechkin and Kucherov anymore,” Ovechkin deadpanned while speaking with Pavel Lysenkov after practice. “I am still in shock.”

The bizarreness of the situation was not lost on Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov, whose Caps team was eliminated by rival Pittsburgh during the 2015-16 playoffs. While the teammates practiced, there was a giant Mario Lemieux banner hanging at the south end of the rink. According to CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Tarik El-Bashir, Ovechkin’s temporary locker was placed right beside where Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby normally dresses too.

After falling behind early, Russia took a commanding lead before needing a ridiculous split save from Sergei Bobrovski in the final minute to hold onto the 4-3 win. Dmitry Orlov tallied a secondary assist while Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov went scoreless.

Washington Capitals teammates Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov return to the ice at 12:30pm today, as Russia takes on the Czech Republic for their first World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game.

Beforehand, Ovechkin and Kuznetsov continued their Caps pre-game tradition of playing a round of sewer ball. The Russian national team Twitter account has your photos.